Ballots in a handful of south-metro cities and school districts will be crowded this fall, with some races attracting long lists of candidates before last week's filing deadline.
One hot spot is the Farmington School District, where controversy over whether and when the district should hire teachers to reduce class sizes motivated some of the seven candidates running for school board seats.
One of those, Tera Lee, is a pastor and mother of four Farmington students who has pressed the board to trim administrative costs and put the money toward teachers. Lee said she believes in "keeping the money in the classroom as much as possible."
In South St. Paul, three out of four school board incumbents will face opposition. The three challengers -- Rich Dippel, Lisa Rother and Amy Williams -- are planning a fundraiser together, said Dippel.
In one of the more hotly contested city races, eight candidates will compete for two Lakeville City Council seats, and Council Member Mark Bellows will run against Mayor Holly Dahl.
The two have clashed during public meetings, including an exchange in December when Bellows shouted at Dahl over his concerns about an increase in Lakeville's tax levy.
Meanwhile, Sharon LaComb's decision not to seek reelection drew quite a crowd for a vacant city council seat in Apple Valley, where 10 candidates are vying for two jobs. Former mayor Gary Humphrey and retired Apple Valley Police Capt. Merle Lohse are among the candidates.
Following is a list of who's running for what (an "i" denotes an incumbent). Some races were set in the Aug. 10 primary.
